


Ghosts

by destieldearie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 19:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3867457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destieldearie/pseuds/destieldearie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He has to help her, but she won't even look at him. Takes place after 4x20</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghosts

It was days like this when the grief threatened to overwhelm her. Days like this when she could feel his presence lurking. Days like this when she felt like her heart was breaking again. Out of the corner of her eye, Belle could see a translucent figure appear in the corner of the shop.  _‘He’s not there, Belle. It’s not him. Rumple is gone. Get a hold of yourself.’_  Rumplestiltskin was gone; he’d died and no amount of magic or true love could save him.  

_6 weeks ago_

Belle had spent the better part of a week looking for Rumplestiltskin since he had returned her heart. She just wanted to talk. She wasn’t ready to forgive him, not yet, but he needed to know that she still loved him; still truly loved him. She meant what she’d said to Regina all those years ago in the Enchanted Forest. She would never stop fighting for him, even when he stopped fighting for himself. His heart was succumbing to his curse, but Belle could still see the good man he’d been once before. The good man who sacrificed himself for a town that didn’t care about him to save the three people who did; the good man who accepted a curse to save his only son from a certain death on the battlefield; the good man who’d saved her more than once in the Dark Castle.  

When she was about to return home, her phone rang. When 'Rumple’ appeared on the screen, her heart began to beat faster against her rib cage.  

“Where are you? Ple-” She spoke quickly.  

Her heart clenched at the labored breathing on the other line. “B-Belle,”

“Please, just tell me where you are. Th-There must be som-”

“Sweetheart, please,” she could hear the sadness in his voice and tears pricked her eyes at his endearment. “This is it. I’ve managed to contain the curse, but I won’t make it. I just wanted to hear your-your voice…for the last time.”  

Belle heard something in the background of the phone call that made her heart race. In the backroom of the pawnshop, there was an antique grandfather clock with a distinct, broken sound that Rumple had never gotten around to repairing after the curse broke.  

 _'He’s back._ ’ She thought as she allowed a modicum of hope into her heart. He must have magicked himself there after she’d left. Turning on her heel, she ran back towards town as fast as her heels would allow.

“Rumple, please, don’t say that. You’ll see me again, I promise. And we’ll fix this and then we’ll work on us.” Her tears were falling heavily now and her voice began to break, “Then we can be together. Just like we always wanted.”  

“Belle, we can’t. I-I don’t have much,” his sentence was cut short by a sharp intake of breath and Belle could tell he was in pain. “Much time. Just remember that I really did love you, th-that wasn’t a lie, ever. I’m sorry…sorry for everything I did; the lies, the tricks,” his voice was growing more faint. “I-I just couldn’t…couldn’t let it happen again. That’s why I needed the hat,”  

“I’m almost there, Rumple. Please just stay with me…stay, please,” Belle whispered, her voice thick with emotion.  

“The…author. He’ll write you your happy ending, Belle, you need only take it. With the thief, or whomever you choose. Just…please…move on, sweetheart. Your happiness…that will make everything worth it,” his voice was so quiet Belle had to strain to hear him through the phone. “I love you, Belle, forever…” She had just reached the pawn shop when the line went quiet.  

His enchantments and wards were still in place for a moment, before they fell away. Rushing through the door and pulling the curtain back, a sob caught in her throat.  

“Rumple, no…please.” Tears stained her cheeks as she made her way to the small cot, her legs threatening to give way at any moment. His once tan skin was now pale and his brown eyes, once full of warmth and love, were cold and empty. 'True love’s kiss can break any curse,’ floated  through her mind. Maybe she wasn’t too late. Praying to gods she’d long forgotten, she pressed her lips to his. 'Magic can do many things, dearie, but no’ that,’ resounded in her brain in the same impish tone she’d fallen in love with.  

Gone. He was  _gone._   

The last thing she remembered before her vision went dark was the sound of her sobs echoing across the store.  

* * *

Fighting the conscious effort to drop her book and run to his arms, Belle began to fiddle with the tiny trinkets that adorned the counter top. “It’s just grief. He’s not real. He’s gone.” She repeated to herself; the words becoming a mantra of sorts. She just missed him so damn  _much_. Giving in, she gazed longingly out of the corner of her eye at the specter of her true love, not daring to look at him completely. The figure would disappear the second she looked him in the eyes. No matter how painful it was to see her remorse manifest itself physically, she didn’t want it to end. Everything seemed to hurt less when he was there and if she closed her eyes and only listened to his voice, she could pretend that he was really there with her.

“Belle, please…look at me, sweetheart, please.” He anguished, his cry rebounding in the quiet atmosphere of the pawn shop. His lips were set in a small smile, but his eyes, were filled with love and misery.  

A small tear rolled down her cheek.  _'He’s not here. It’s only my imagination._  Yesterday, he was at the library with her and he’d sat with her the day before when she’d visited his grave site.  

“I-I don’t have much time, please,” he whispered.  

A small sob escaped her as she put the book away and walked to Granny’s. He never appeared when she was with other people.  

* * *

Rumplestiltskin couldn’t understand it; somehow, his soul had survived, but his body had not. The last thing he remembered of his life was talking to Belle and telling her how much he loved her and that the Author would write her a happy ending. Then, he was looking down at his now lifeless body with Belle sobbing against his chest. That first week he’d merely watched over her. The Author had made him a deal that Belle would get her happy ending. Why then, did she seem so miserable? Since then, he’d spent the remaining time trying to become corporeal. He had to convince her to move on, to be happy once again.  

“Belle, please…look at me, sweetheart, please.” He cried. She had only once looked at him directly and her beauty had caused his concentration to waver. Belle had never dared meet his eyes again after that. A small tear began to roll down her cheek and he wanted nothing more than to wipe it away. She shouldn’t be mourning him, who’d done nothing but hurt her. She should be pursuing her own happiness, not lamenting the loss of someone who’d wronged her at every opportunity.  

Rumplestiltskin could feel his concentration beginning to falter, “"I-I don’t have much time, please.”

Refusing to look at him, she put the book she’d be reading away and walked out of the shop.  

* * *

“Belle, please you have to listen to me.” His voice was calm, but there was an urgency laced throughout.  Slamming the books down on the circulation desk, Belle felt herself sink to the floor and tears started to roll down her cheeks.  

“P-please. I-I’m sorry I couldn’t save you and gods know I tried, but I coul-couldn’t. I know you said there was another happy ending, one without you, but you were my happy ending. I love you, Rumple…” her shoulders started to shake as her body was wracked with sobs.

* * *

The image before Rumplestiltskin was heartbreaking and he found himself gravitating towards Belle. He’d never tried to physically touch her, so he was surprised when his hand rested on her shoulder instead of slipping through her. “Sweetheart…it’s me. I-I don’t know why I’m still here, but I am. Please, Belle, you have to move on. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Will you at least  _look_  at me?” He whispered in her ear, praying to the gods that she wouldn’t run. He wondered about the reason behind his continued existence, but with Belle so close, Rumplestiltskin couldn’t help but focus his attentions on her. Maybe that’s why he’d been cursed again to be stuck between the planes of this world and the afterlife, to correct his mistakes.  

* * *

She’d never dared hope that her grief wasn’t just grief, but when she felt his hand rest on her shoulder, she allowed herself to believe that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t crazy. She didn’t want to move on, not without closure. “Sweetheart…it’s me. I-I don’t know why I’m still here, but I am. Please, Belle, you have to move on. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Will you at least look at me?” She heard his voice whisper in her ear. Taking a shaky breath, she turned to face him.  

“R-Rumple, you’re here. It’s really you,” she breathed.  

“Aye, love.” His voice reflected the sadness that was also present in his eyes.  

“But, why?”

“I don’t know, but Belle, I want you to be happy. Even though I’m not here anymore. You can’t live the rest of your life in mourning, not for me.” He pushed an errant curl back behind her ear and rested his hand against her cheek.  

Her pulse began to race as he continued to stare into her eyes.  

“I love you, Rumplestiltskin. I never stopped, even after the mess at the town line. Even Will was just a distraction. Nobody could ever replace you, my love. It’s true love, remember?” She gave him a sad smile as the pad of his thumb began to stroke her cheekbone.  

Belle leaned forward gently, watching his eyes narrow in confusion and his head leaning slightly to the side. He had said once that she gave him strength and courage to do the right thing. They’d both lost their way, but maybe this was fate. He had hurt her, yes, but he spent far more time rescuing her and loving her. Maybe now, she was finally getting her chance to finish rescuing him. She knew nobody would be able to replace Rumple, but she was ready to begin healing.  

When their lips met, Belle felt a surge of energy emit from them. It was a feeling she’d only felt a lifetime before in a dark castle. “Kiss me again…it’s working,” she whispered against his lips as tears flowed from her eyes.  

* * *

She was kissing him. He supposed it was a fitting end, really. The last thing he remembered before his vision went black and he faded from existence was Belle’s bright eyes smiling at him.


End file.
